Bastardi said Harvey is only the seventh-highest-magnitude hurricane on record to hit the Texas coast, though no other storm of this magnitude has stalled over Texas, which drives up rainfall totals. “While this stalling and heavy rain is unprecedented in the Houston area, you have hundreds of places across the globe where tropical cyclones have stalled,” he said.

Joe Bastardi, a meteorologist at WeatherBell Analytics who doubts the mainstream science about human contribution to climate change, said Harvey is within what he would expect, given recent weather patterns.

“I could give you 100 examples of how Harvey has occurred all over the world in other places,” he said.

Bastardi believes that the climate is changing, but human activity is not the main cause.

He said Harvey is only the seventh-highest-magnitude hurricane on record to hit the Texas coast, though no other storm of this magnitude has stalled over Texas, which drives up rainfall totals.

“While this stalling and heavy rain is unprecedented in the Houston area, you have hundreds of places across the globe where tropical cyclones have stalled,” he said.